Epidendrum comayaguense Ames 1933 - See also Epidendrum cerinum Schltr. 1918 GROUP Arbuscula SUBGROUP Incomptum Photo courtesy of Weyman Bussey

Common Name The Comayagua Epidendrum [A state within Honduras]

Flower Size 1.2" [3 cm]

Found in Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua in wet montane forests at elevations around 1170 meters as a small to just medium sized, warm growing epiphyte with apically leafy, branching stems carrying patent, ovoid-elliptic to oblong-lanceolate leaves that blooms in the spring on a terminal, somewhat descending, short to .8" [2 cm] long, racemose, to 5 flowered inflorescence

The photo is of this plant taken in the Mixteca region of Chiapas by Weyman Bussey and definitely matches Dodson's Description but not as much to the drawing by Hagsater of E cerinum. Major differences are, the rounded, erose edged lip apex as well as the fatter, rounded, cupped sepals as well as the heavy yellow column.

Said to be a synonym of E cerinum but if so these two plants are quite dissimilar. Maybe one is misidentified? I leave them separate until more information arises.

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936; Ceiba Vol 5 No 1 L O Williams 1956; Las Orquedias de El Salvador Vol 1 Hamer 1974 drawing/photo fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 712 Dodson 1982 drawing fide; Selbyana Vol 10 Orchids of Central America Hamer 1988 drawing fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018

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